Serino Coyne Returns to Independent Ownership After CEO Buys Firm from Omnicom

Serino Coyne, the live arts and entertainment advertising and marketing agency, is now an independent firm after CEO Matt Upshaw purchased the company outright from its parent company, Omnicom, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition was finalized on Feb. 27. Upshaw told Broadway News that "Omnicom and I reached an amicable agreement about the value of the agency."

Serino Coyne was founded in 1977 by Nancy Coyne and Matthew Serino, establishing what the company says was the first ad agency dedicated to live entertainment. Its transition to private ownership under Upshaw follows Omnicom's purchase of the agency in 2003. Though Serino Coyne will no longer operate under the Omnicom umbrella, the entity will maintain a strategic partnership with the advertising company.

The agency will retain its original name and will christen its new home, a newly custom-designed, state-of-the-art suite of offices located at 1450 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10036, in April 2026, in the heart of Times Square, with 100% retention of executives, staff and associates. The agency has maintained its full staff of more than 70 employees in the transition.

Upshaw began his tenure at Serino Coyne in 2007 as a freshman Assistant Account Executive, advancing through a series of promotions to roles that included Vice President, Account Management and Insights in 2015, Managing Director in 2018, and ultimately Chief Executive Officer in 2019. His pre-Serino Coyne career includes five years serving in the United States Navy and work in civil engineering and with the National Security Agency. During his tenure, he created the Insights and Revenue Management department, the first of its kind in the industry, and has spearheaded campaigns for over 50 clients, from Broadway mainstays to Netflix and Capital One.

In a statement, Upshaw framed the buyout as a return to the agency's founding spirit. "What Nancy Coyne and Matthew Serino understood in 1977 was radical at the time: that live entertainment deserved the same caliber of marketing as any consumer brand. That insight built an industry," he said. "What we understand now is equally important: that audiences aren't simply bought, they're crafted. Built through insight, imagination, and intention. The way people discover and engage with culture has transformed, and we intend to lead that transformation."

Upshaw also pointed to independence as an operational imperative: "The core driver behind this transition is, and always has been, the extraordinary people combining decades of invaluable, front-line expertise who animate this organization. The live entertainment landscape is more dynamic and more competitive than it's ever been. Audiences today discover culture across feeds, streets, and screens — and the next generation craves in-person experiences that foster genuine connection. Serino Coyne is uniquely positioned at that intersection. Independence gives us the agility to move faster, think bolder, and double down on what we do best: crafting the strategies that help extraordinary experiences find the audiences they deserve."

Upshaw put the ownership model in historical context as well: "Being the original independent agency on Broadway that literally broke the mold, created the whole idea of advertising for live entertainment — and then lots of competition was born out of that — to go back to an independent ownership model, I think, is actually just the continuation of the whole original idea."

Current clients include Broadway giants like Wicked and The Outsiders, and new shows this season like Cats: The Jellicle Ball, Proof, and Bug. Nancy Coyne left day-to-day leadership of the agency in 2015, taking on the title of Chairman. Co-founder Matthew Serino died June 19, 2023, at age 79. With the move to 1450 Broadway set for April, the company may be better positioned to respond to industry demands with greater flexibility, and freed from the structures of a larger corporate parent, can potentially take more creative risks and tailor its strategies more closely to the needs of individual productions and organizations.